Tuesday, November 27, 2012

From 60 Minutes: Kids are Helping Kids Change the World

Kids can be motivated to change the world and many are doing so one at a time. Craig Kielburger started as a seventh grader many years ago and in a 60 Minutes piece, he explains how his organization "Children Helping Children" is accomplishing that. As a volunteer teacher for People to People, I have witnessed first hand what projects can do when students harvest ideas, partner with other like minded people and the will to carry out the projects.

T he following script is from "Children Helping Children" which
aired on Nov. 25, 2012. Scott Pelley is the correspondent. Nicole Young,
producer. Pages two and three are on the site. The video is archived on 60 minutes and the link is here. vv

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50135739n

60 Minutes Web Extra

The things that we're thankful for tend to come from people
who devote their lives to something greater than themselves. Many folks
come to that devotion late in life. But Craig Kielburger discovered it
early. He was in seventh grade when the death of a boy changed his life.
It was a change so profound that, through Kielburger, it has now saved
and transformed lives around the globe. In that moment, 17 years ago,
Craig Kielburger was struck by a profound truth -- something as
important as changing the world can't be left to grown ups.
Craig
Kielburger: Kids are looking to get involved. They're searching for it.
And in an era where, you know adults often are looking for meaning and
purpose in their lives, kids also want to assert who they are, not just
by the videogames they play or the peer groups they belong to, but by
the contribution they make. And that's part of a youth self-identity in
the world. And not only is it good for the child, my God, our world
needs it.
For information on Free The Children, click here
Craig
Kielburger was a child when he noticed the needs of the world. As a
12-year-old in Canada he read about the murder of a boy his age in
Pakistan. Iqbal Masih was a slave in a carpet factory. Masih escaped to
lead a campaign against servitude. But within two years he was silenced.
Kielburger put down the newspaper and rose to speak.
Craig Kielburger: We're talking about labor and the exploitation of children.
He
made Iqbal Masih's fight, his own. He talked to classmates, to
Congress, to Parliament. To call him "precocious" is an understatement
as our own Ed Bradley found out in 1996.
Ed Bradley: But what made you think you could do something about it?
Craig
Kielburger: Originally, I didn't think I could, really. But the only
way we're going to ever find out is try. So after doing some research, I
just walked to my classmates and said, "Listen, I read this article.
Here's a problem. This is what I know" -- which at that point was not
very much -- and asked, 'Who wants to help?'
Turned out
11 friends wanted to help. With no money to start with, no wealthy
parents or early backers, they met in his living room and started a
charity called Free The Children.

[Ed Bradley: Why you?Craig
Kielburger: Why not? If everyone in the world could say, "Why me?" --
then nothing ever would be accomplished. Why me? Because I've met those
children. Because I've seen them. Because I read the story of Iqbal
Masih. Why not me?]
In the 1990's, Kielburger wanted
to free children from slavery. So he went to Asia recruiting activists
and government authorities to bust child sweatshops and sex traffickers.
There were early successes. But, when we went overseas with Kielburger,
he told us freeing children was much more complicated than he had first
imagined.
Scott Pelley: What are some of the things that didn't work out? What have you learned?
Craig
Kielburger: You know, probably the lowest moment ever was the first
time in Southeast Asia, when we met children who we had freed before who
are back in slavery. To see that some of those same kids would end up
back in the same grinding, backbreaking, desperate poverty, there is
nothing that makes your heart fall more than that.
Kids
he freed were being pulled back into servitude, years later, by
centuries old culture and traditions shaped by poverty and illiteracy.
Scott Pelley: At the point that you saw that your original big idea wasn't working, why didn't you throw in the towel?